Office of the Mayor - COVID-19 Update No. 5

Senators Menendez and Booker are holding a conference call for all Mayors and selected County officials at 12:30 pm today to provide an update on the federal Coronavirus funding packages.

Governor Murphy is holding a press conference at 1:00 pm today. It is widely expected that another Executive Order will issue imposing additional restrictions designed to enhance existing "social distancing" protocols.

For guidance on how severe these restrictions will be, you can look to the restrictions enacted by California and Illinois.

Governor Murphy is holding a Mayor's conference call at 8:00 pm to discuss the 1:00 pm press conference and any official announcements made during same.

If you are experiencing any symptoms of this virus, please call your Primary Care Physician. They will guide you on how to get tested and where. Testing is being performed on symptomatic patients only.

All medical experts continue to maintain the push for “Social Distancing” to slow the spread of this virus through our communities. There have been directives passed down that force us to increase distancing through the closings of many businesses, however, it is up to each of us to practice social distancing in all other areas of our daily lives.

We have decided to keep the Borough’s public parks, playgrounds and sports facilities open, but we need the help of every resident --- parents and children included --- to prevent the spread of the virus by practicing “social distancing” while using the public parks, playgrounds and sports facilities. In the event that we observe a failure of the public to observe proper “social distancing” while using Oceanport’s public parks, playgrounds and sports facilities, we will close the playgrounds and sports facilities and limit the use of the parks to passive and/or non-interactive uses.

We will see a precipitous rise in the number of positive COVID-19 cases as testing becomes more widely available.

FEMA, in conjunction with the State of New Jersey, will open a drive through testing center at the PNC Arts Center beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, March 23, 2020. Testing protocols are that first priority will be given to first responders, health care workers and those showing symptoms. As Governor Murphy aptly stated, these testing centers are not for the "worried well."

Oceanport has no confirmed positives as of now.

For the latest information from the State of New Jersey: https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/ncov.shtml

More updates to follow later today.

Jay Coffey

Mayor of Oceanport

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